Deciphering the Palimpsest: Chronological Uncertainty and the Interpretation of Mining Landscapes at Písečný vrch (Czech Republic)

ABSTRACT

We investigated the Písečný vrch (Czech Republic), a site exploited for quartz mining in both prehistoric times and the 20th century. Due to their morphological similarity across all mining periods, the differentiation between pits with archaeological potential and recent ones is challenging. To reconstruct the recent mining component and provide a basis for non‐destructive pit prioritization, we combined airborne laser scanning, historical aerial photographs and field survey. MaxEnt modelling was then applied to derive a relative Recency Index, expressing the similarity of each pit to independently confirmed recent extraction features. The model achieved a cross‐validated AUC value of 0.691, indicating moderate but practically useful discriminatory ability. Rather than providing definitive chronological classification, the model outputs provide a relative basis for prioritizing pits for further archaeological verification, especially those that are less similar to confirmed recent extraction features and therefore have higher archaeological potential. Using Youden Index optimization, we applied an operational threshold of 0.441 and identified 293 lower‐Recency candidates with higher archaeological potential for future verification. Our results demonstrate the value of this approach for the non‐invasive prioritization of morphologically similar anthropogenic relics and for supporting their heritage protection.